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Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Jerry Sloan, Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, George Karl, Larry Brown and Rick Adelman. Eight illustrious members of the 1000 win club as an NBA head coach.

Of those eight coaches, only Adelman and Karl are not in the Hall of Fame. Karl may still coach in the NBA (as may Adelman), but when it's all said and done, they'll undoubtedly be Hall-of-Famers.

Rick Adelman's coaching career spanned 23 years and 1,791 games in which his teams went 1,042-749 (.582). Over his 23 seasons, he coached the Portland Trailblazers (1989-1994), Golden State Warriors (1996-1997), Sacramento Kings (1998-2006), Houston Rockets (2008-2011) and finally, the Minnesota Timberwolves (2011-2014).

He is the second-winningest coach in Timberwolves history with 97 wins, behind only Flip Saunders (411 wins). That speaks more to how terrible the Wolves have been than anything else.

Adelman's tenure in Minnesota ended with disappointment as he was unable to end Minnesota's now decade-long playoff drought. However, he brought respectability to a franchise that suffered mightily at the hands of Kurt Rambis and especially David Kahn.

Adelman, while not entirely satisfied with not getting the Wolves back to the postseason, is looking forward to his retirement. That means moving back to Portland, spending more time with his wife and his family and being there more for his grandchildren.

He's leaving the Wolves in good hands with Flip Saunders, but the biggest question is who will take Adelman's place courtside.

Flip Saunders is a definite possibility, though (owner) Taylor says that he'd like the GM and the head coach to be two separate entities. A coach needs to focus day-to-day, while a GM has to think both now and what's best for the future of the franchise.

While, Saunders is completely ruled out, there are a number of other names being floated around: Iowa State's Fred Hoiberg, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Florida's Billy Donovan, former Nuggets head coach George Karl, former Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins as well as the Van Gundy brothers (Jeff or Stan).

There will be plenty more names that we'll hear and we'll have plenty of coverage on who the Wolves are interested in/interviewing, etc. Last time the Wolves went through a coaching search, the names were: Don Nelson, Rick Adelman, Bernie Bickerstaff, Sam Mitchell, Mike Woodson and Terry Porter. Needless to say, I highly doubt any of those names would be considered for the vacancy now.

I wouldn't mind seeing a guy like George Karl or one of the Van Gundy brothers at the helm. I honestly wouldn't mind if it was Flip Saunders, either. Regardless of what happens, I just want the to see the Wolves play some semblance of a respectable NBA defense in 2014-15!